COLUMBIA A N D M ONTOUR COUNTIES From L o fty to Tamanend the descending grade was 66 feet to the mile. T he C ataw issa railroad had seven wooden trestle bridges (the largest being tltat at D ark Run. which w*as 546 feet high and 574 feet ]<mgj and about as many tunnels. T he bridge at M ainville w as 1 1 5 feel hi^h and 72 7 feet long. It w as the only one in Columbia county.
- hne steel bridge now occupies its place, the
old piers of the lirst one still remaining. A ll the others hat'c been replaced by steel. I'h e Cataw issa' shops were built in 1864, the repair w ork before that time being done at Tamaqua. T h e first m aster mechanic w as George H . Prescott, and his brother, "A n d y " Prescott, w as foreman. T he C ataw issa railroad w as extended from Milton to W illiam sport in 18 7 1, under George Webb, superintendent and ch ief engineer, with W . 0 . Y c ttc r as assistant engineer. In 1882 W. G . Y etter, resident engineer, laid out and built the extension from W illiam sirart to N ew berry. T h e extension from Milton to W il liamsport cost $1,200,000. the estimate hav ing w e n $ i ,000,000. T he C ataw issa, W illiam sport & E rie had a strenuous time and in i860 gave up the ghost. Tbe property w as purchased at public sale by the c a ta w issa R ailroad Company, a corpora tion form ed fo r that purpose. In 1872 the road w a s taken o ver by the Philadelphia & Reading R a ilw a y Company under a tease, under which the latter company still holds con trol and operates the road. The officers of the road have been: P resi dents— W illiam D . I.ewi5, T . H . Dupcy, M . P. Hutchinson and Fran klin B . Gowen (a fte r the Reading took charge in 18 7 2); superintendents “ Thom as M . M cK isso ck; H enry F o n d y; Stanley H . Goodwin, who resigned in M ay. 1863; follow ed by George Webb, who resigned in 18 7 2; succeeded by Daniel Reinhard until March 17, 1887, when W . G . Y c ttc r w as ap pointed until Ju n e, 1893, when the Catawissa railroad w as consolidated with the Shamokin Branch of the P . & R . under M r. Bertolci as superintendent, until he w as succeeded by A . T. Dice, w ho w as followed by J . E . T u rk, the present superintendent. The second railroad built through this sec tion of the county w as the Lackaw anna & Bloomsburg road, projected by citizens o f W ilkes-Barre, who had no means o f reaching Philadelphia but the circuitous route through Scranton and N ew Y o rk C ity. T h is road w as completed in 18 57 to Rupert, connecting there with the C ataw issa road, and the first train passed Bloom sburg on Jan . i, 1858. T w o years
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later the road w as extended to Northumber land. A t first but two trains, one passenger and one freight, were in service, but addi tions o f two trains were made every ten years until 18 8 1, when it came into the control of the fam ous Lackaw anna, "T h e K oad o f A n thracite," which now operates the line. A t present fo u r passenger trains are run daily each w ay, and an ei|ual number o f freights. T he line is equipped with automatic block sig nals and is one of the finest in the State. The N orth & W est Branch railroad w as con ceived in the mind o f K ev. D . J . W aller, o f Bloomsburg, wlio reasoned that the logical route fo r a railroad w as along the southern bank of the Susquehaiuia. T his route had previously been the one selected by Sim on P. K ase as the one fo r his telegraph line, but was abandoned in favo r of the llazlcton route. M r. W aller w rote the charter fo r the new road, and Hon. C . K . Buckalew had it passed by the Legislature in 18 7 1. It w as ten years, how ever, before the road w as completed to W ilkesB arre from Catawissa. J . C . Brow n w as chief engineer, and Sam uel N eyhard, assistant. T he charter of the company provided that a bridge be built over the Susquehanna, with a wagon w ay beside the tracks, the county to pay twofifths of the cost. T hat bridge w as never built, but the road w as constructed under the name o f N orth & W est Branch Railroad Company, with almost unlimited pow ers to construct branches, etc. It came into the control of the Pennsylvania system in i886. A t the pres ent time the road is in a prosperous condition. S ix passenger trains and numerous freights are run daily through Catawissa. In 1870 the Danville, llazlcton & W ilkesB arre road w as built by the efforts o f Simon P. K ase, o f Danville. It, also, is now in the control of the Pennsylvania. It follow s the east bank of the Cataw issa creek, passing through M,iiii and B eaver townships, connect ing Cataw issa with Hazleton and the hard coal region. T he Bloom sburg & Sullivan R ailroad Com{>any rcceivc<l its original ch arier from the S tale in 1883. and w as completed in 1888. T he first ground w as broken at the bridge a short distance north o f O rangeville, in A ugust. 1886, the road w as completed and o|>erated to Benton the follow ing year, and to Jam ison C ity in 1888. T he promoters of the road w e re : Hon. C. R. Buckalew and Col. Jo h n Jam ison, o f Bloom s burg. and the constructing engineer w as John A . Wilson, o f Philadelphia. Jam es C . Brow n, a form er postmaster o f Bloomsburg. w as the surveyor of the line. T h e entire right o f
